A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Stock Holdings Cut by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 95.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,616 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 221,431 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,231,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,972,000 after buying an additional 12,305 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in A. O. Smith by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in A. O. Smith by 124.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,015,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 122,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,442 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

A. O. Smith Stock Up 0.8%

A. O. Smith stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $64.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,331,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,250,475. A. O. Smith Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.45. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.68.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. A. O. Smith had a return on equity of 28.87% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $963.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $950.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. A. O. Smith's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.17.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.